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After months of existing as a muddy basin, Lake Jean is coming back to life.
The 245-acre lake in Ricketts Glen State Park, which is a popular spot for swimming and fishing, was drawn down in the spring so the dam control tower could be replaced. The empty lake bed meant a slower summer season at the park but it also presented an opportunity.
Crews from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources took advantage of the empty basin to improve the habit when the lake fills back up and the fish are re-stocked. According to Ben Stone, park manager at Ricketts Glen, DCNR staff deposited 17 porcupine crib structures around the lake bed, cut the old dam tower into four pieces and added that as structure and placed 124 tons of limestone rock, which will serve both as fish habitat and aid in improving the pH of the water.
With the water gone and the bed exposed, Stone said the work was a lot easier.
“We didn’t need to haul the stuff out on a boat. We just took it out with a tractor and dump truck and drove right onto the lake bed,” Stone said. “It was easy to access much of the bed.”
But with the water gone, Stone also got a good look at what lay beneath the surface of Lake Jean. When it came to fish habitat, he said, there wasn’t much of it.
“There’s not much structure in the lake, just some old tree stumps. There just wasn’t a lot there to serve as cover for smaller fish,” he said.
The structure deposited in the lake this summer will provide valuable cover for smaller fish, allowing them to avoid predators and grow. Before the lake was drawn down, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission logged many hours electroshocking the lake to remove as many fish as they could. Those fish were released at Frances Slocum Lake and Lily Lake.
In addition, Stone said park workers netted more than 2,000 fish that were trapped in the mud this summer as the water receded and deposited them in a 50-acre pool that didn’t dry up on the east side of the lake bed.
Stone said the DCNR will continue to place more habitat structures and limestone in the lake after it fills back up, which he expects to be completed by Memorial Day of next year.
“It could even happen earlier depending on the amount of precipitation we get in the winter and spring,” he said.
When the water returns, so will the fish. The PFBC will stock the lake with a variety of species – all fingerlings, for the next three years. Rob Wnuk, fisheries manager for the PFBC’s Northeast Region, said the fish will come from agency hatcheries and include largemouth bass, black crappie, yellow perch, bluegill, chain pickerel, brown bullhead and golden shiners.
“All stockings throughout the state are dependent on availability from hatcheries,” Wnuk said. “I expect to get what I’ve requested but you never know. Aquaculture is just like farming. Despite careful planning, lots of things can happen and you can’t be certain what kind of crop you’ll get at the end of the year.”
As far as other aquatic life such as amphibians and plants, those species will return on their own. Wnuk and Stone said many amphibians survived in the 50-acre pool and that will help re-populate the lake as well.
While it will take time for the lake to fill back up and the stocked fingerlings to grow, Stone is excited to see Lake Jean returning to form.
“The summer without the lake was still busy but not as much on the weekdays,” Stone said. “There was no swimming, which is a major local draw as well. But with the work that’s been done the lake, and the fishing, will be better. We’re excited to get back to a full lake again.”